Ana de Armas Is Entering a New Chapter — And Her Latest Role Is Very Different

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Ana de Armas has reached the point in her career where almost every new project gets attention.

The Cuban-Spanish actress has gone from relatively small roles to working alongside some of Hollywood's biggest names, starring in movies such as Blade Runner 2049, Knives Out, No Time to Die, The Gray Man and Ballerina. But her newest project is taking her somewhere slightly different.

Instead of another big-screen action role, Ana de Armas has been working on a new espionage series for Apple TV called Safe Houses.

And the filming itself took her to some unexpected places.

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Ana de Armas was recently filming in Spain

In 2026, de Armas was spotted filming Safe Houses in Madrid and later in northern Galicia, including locations around Mugardos, Cariño and Mañón.

The series is an eight-episode international thriller created by Gideon Raff, the producer and writer known for The Spy and for developing the story that inspired Homeland. The cast also includes Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Connelly.

The story begins after a high-ranking CIA officer is killed in Madrid. Ana de Armas plays Sofia Jiménez, a fugitive agent accused of the murder, while Connelly plays Ambassador Elizabeth Winthrop, the victim's widow.

The two women find themselves investigating the same mystery from very different sides.

It sounds like exactly the kind of role that fits de Armas at this stage of her career: stylish, mysterious and much more serious than the typical celebrity thriller.

From Cuba to Hollywood

One of the most interesting things about Ana de Armas is how unusual her route to Hollywood actually was.

She was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1988 and began her acting career there before moving to Spain as a teenager. Her breakthrough in Spain came with the television series El Internado, which helped establish her as a young actress before she eventually moved toward international cinema.

Hollywood, however, was a completely different challenge.

Her English was not initially fluent when she began pursuing American roles, but she gradually built a career that put her opposite actors such as Ryan Gosling, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans and Keanu Reeves.

Her performance in Knives Out in 2019 became one of the major turning points.

As Marta Cabrera, she wasn't simply another glamorous face in a Hollywood mystery. The character became one of the emotional centers of the movie, and suddenly a much wider audience knew who Ana de Armas was.

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Then came Marilyn Monroe

Perhaps her most demanding role so far was Marilyn Monroe in Netflix's Blonde.

The role was a huge departure from the action-oriented image audiences had started associating with her. De Armas received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for the performance, becoming one of the most talked-about aspects of the movie.

Interestingly, she later moved in almost the opposite direction.

In Ballerina, the John Wick spinoff, she played Eve Macarro, a character who spends much of the movie fighting her way through an extremely dangerous world.

The film gave audiences a chance to see her handle intense physical action, and the production involved extensive stunt work. The story is positioned between John Wick: Chapter 3 and John Wick: Chapter 4, with Keanu Reeves appearing as John Wick.

What comes next for Ana de Armas?

Safe Houses isn't the only interesting project on her horizon.

She has also been attached to Sweat, a psychological thriller in which she plays Emma Kent, an ambitious fitness influencer whose carefully controlled online image begins to fall apart after a dangerous encounter with an obsessive fan. Production was scheduled to take place in Los Angeles and the UK.

There is also Palm Grove, an upcoming erotic thriller with Kate Hudson. The story follows a woman who discovers that her seemingly perfect husband has been living a secret life, setting up a very different kind of role for de Armas.

What makes Ana de Armas interesting right now is that she doesn't seem locked into one particular Hollywood image.

She can be a Bond girl, a dramatic actress playing Marilyn Monroe, an action heroine in the John Wick universe or a mysterious spy in an Apple TV thriller.

And perhaps that is the most interesting part of her story.

She didn't become one of Hollywood's recognizable faces by playing the same character over and over.

She keeps changing.

And judging by the projects currently surrounding her, Ana de Armas may be entering one of the most varied periods of her career yet.